"These [in Berea] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." - Acts 17:11

(1) {A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.} Lord, *thou* hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. (2) Before the mountains were brought forth, and thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from eternity to eternity thou art ùGod. (3) Thou makest [mortal] man to return to dust, and sayest, Return, children of men. (4) For a thousand years, in thy sight, are as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night. (5) Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are [as] a sleep: in the morning they are like grass [that] groweth up: (6) In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down and withereth. (7) For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy fury are we troubled. (8) Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance. (9) For all our days pass away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a [passing] thought. (10) The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if, by reason of strength, they be fourscore years, yet their pride is labour and vanity, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.


Psalm 90 gives us probably the best biblical perspective of time. This psalm, the only one attributed to Moses, compares how man and God view time and life. His conclusion, of course, is that man and God look at time from entirely different perspectives. It is this difference in point of view that makes a huge difference in how we conduct our lives.

Moses begins by asserting that God is everlasting and almighty (verses 1-2). He can destroy men's lives, and a thousand years later, He resurrects them to life with a word (verses 3-4)! Thousands of years can pass, and God can still bring people back from the dead! Man has no power over death, but God can, has, and will overcome time and death by the power of the resurrection. To God, these thousands of years pass swiftly "like yesterday . . . like a watch in the night."

This is far different from man's point of view. "The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away" (verse 10). Ethan, the psalmist of Psalm 89:47-48, echoes this in his plea to God:

Remember how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men? What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah.

— Richard T. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
Time and Life



 

Topics:

Death

Mortality

Resurrection

Time

Time, God's Perspective of

Time, Man's Perspective of




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